Living at site

I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have been living at my new home for about a month now. I live in a very small village north of Kampala. My village is located in the African bush. Thankfully electricity which has been my saving grace. I get my water from the local watering hole not too far from my house. I will be living at the secondary school where I am teaching. It looks like I will be teaching physics and math. Everyone in my village has been very warm and welcoming. I think everyone already knows my name. When I am coming and going from my village I greet everyone and always receive a "Bye Madame Liz" from the local children. I have really enjoyed cooking for myself this last month although food can be quite difficult to get. I begin teaching in about a week and will be very busy with lesson plans and schemes. So far I have had no bug incidents except for the monstrous spider that decided to join me for dinner the other night. Soon I will post some pics of my new house. I also listed my address so feel free to send letters and whatnot.

Flying termites and tuna jerky

so i am pretty sure that i will continue to be plagued by bugs my entire stay in africa. some people get sick, i guess i just get bugs. I woke up earlier this week to my floor being covered in flying termites. they are pretty good size bug and i guess loose their wings quickly, so i had wings and termites crawling all over my floor. it was great to wake up to. thank god I duck tape my mosquito net to the floor or else i would have had termites in my bed this time. in other news i had dried fish for the first time this week and the only thing i can think to compare it to would be if some one made tuna jerky. it was quite a nice change of pace. i think i like tuna jerky. I officially find out my site on wednesday and will be sworn in as a volunteer a week from this wednesday!!!!!! only a few more days of training and host fams and not being able to cook for myself!!!!!

The new job

This past week, my job assignment was changed from primary teacher trainer to secondary school teacher teaching math and science. so far I have only been a part of one training session but it seems like fun. I will be teaching in local schools this coming week. Hopefully, it will be a nice change of pace. I still can't believe I am in Uganda getting ready to work. It so strange thinking that I can sort of speak another language and then 5 weeks ago I didn't know it existed. Well stranger things happen all the time;)

PIneapples, matooke, and bed bugs

Life has indeed gotten interesting. I eat pineapple almost everyday in large quantities as well as suffer through my small portion of matooke which looks like yellow mush and tastes like starch. I have also gotten several new friends in my bed(BEDBUGS!). After going through the exciting and painfully complex task of cleaning my bed and sheets and blankets and pillows and everything, i get to spray pesticide in my room to kill everything. but in all honesty, bed bugs aside, things have been good. I really like the group of people I am with as well as the language I am learning which is luganda. My job is slowly making more sense though it seems like it is going to be a lot of work. Life is pretty routine here. The sunrises at 7 every morning with rooster and the mosquitoes come out every night at sunset at 7. Training is very programmed as well as homestay life. If I am not at training or studying I am doing some household chore like sweeping or washing clothes. This coming week I get to visit a pc volunteer in the field to get a better idea of life at site so that should be fun. Otherwise, life is good. Siiba Bulungi!!

Arriving in Uganda

I have arrived in Uganda after several hours on airplanes and in airports. There are 31 other volunteers besides myself. We arrived late on valentine's day with the country director and staff waiting for us at the airport. As we stepped off the plane, you could feel the heat and the humidity. It's no wonder Ugandans shower 2-3 times a day. After adjusting to the giant time difference, I am beginning to be able to appreciate all that is Uganda. Uganda is covered in lush vegetation with wildlife all around including monkeys, giant birds, and lots of bugs. The Ugandan people are truly the nicest and most hospitable people I have ever come across. Everyone has been amazing as we begin training. Tomorrow our group of 32 shall travel to a smaller town to being our homestays and training. While I learn more about Uganda, I realize that there is a lot of similarities to Indonesia. I imagine my experience here will be just as amazing. This may be my last post for a while since we don't have much access to internet. Than you to everyone who has wished me well. Hopefully I will write soon.

The Packing Continues...

As I pack my bags I am slowly discovering that I might be bringing too much stuff.  I have looked at the PC packing list and think it's pretty minimal but many volunteers have put their packing lists online which has been a lifesaver.  Although it might be a pain in the airport, I think packing more is better than packing less;) If anyone has any suggestions on must-haves, please shoot me an e-mail or comment on this entry. Thanks!

The beginning of a new adventure

So being that this is my first post to my brand new blog, I believe an introduction is in order.  To begin, I first applied to the Peace Corps back in Nov. 2007 and shortly after received my nomination for service.  After the long and grueling process of medical and dental clearance, I was placed in Nov. 2008 in a program set to leave Feb. 12th, 2008 for Entebbe, Uganda.  I will be living and working in Uganda for 27 months. My job title is primary school teacher trainer.  From the information sent to me regarding my job, I believe I will be helping current teachers with curriculum, classroom presentations, and incorporating newer techniques to keep children engaged.  

I have been preparing fastidiously to go to Philly for staging.  In Philly, I will be attending PC meetings, registration, etc. as well as meeting everyone in my training class. As a group, we will leave Philly and travel to Uganda.  I have already met a few of the people in my training class and it seems like we have a great group going;) I am very excited to meet everyone and begin this new adventure in Africa!!!